Review: This “Beauty” QUEEN Spins Laughs & Holds On To Her Crown In MISS RICHFIELD 1981: 40 YEARS ON THE THRONE at The Triad

40 Years Is Just The Beginning!

Heigh-Ho, My Lovely Rainbow Tribe! Bobby Patrick, your RAINBOW Reviewer here. Putting the silent T in cabareT to bring you all the T!

Well, my lovelies, Thursday night's trip to the Triad introduced yours truly to the comedy stylings of Miss Richfield 1981, who, with her show - 40 YEARS ON THE THRONE - kept all in attendance in a constant state of gay giggles throughout her 90-minute set. If any of you, dearest readers, love to travel but do so on a budget, then you have probably encountered this member of drag royalty in her many Orbitz ads or on your uber gay Atlantis cruise ships where, until our recent predicament, she has been a regular performer. This beauty pageant winner (by default) is the creation of the wonderfully talented Russ King, a stand-up master who, in his beauty queen persona, told long-form comedy stories, one-liners, went toe to toe improvising with the audience, AND SHE CAN SING TOO! Talking from a bare stage with only a chair, a mic, and a roll-down screen for her many projections and video interludes all of which underlined and enhanced the stories she told of her 40 years as Miss Richfield 1981, our lady of laughs pulled faces, sang songs and stepped out onto the tightrope to work without a net improvising with the crowd. With a mouth that rivals Martha Raye and a wide, loud voice akin to Kaye Ballard, one can imagine those two great lady clowns taking the extra E's from their names and fashioning this drag diva to leave her to us in their wills. She was big, brassy, and brash in all things, having a great time with her friends, fans, and the uninitiated in a non-stop, rapid-fire delivery that would seem impossible to keep up in the long haul, but haul it she did.

It's difficult at times to write up a performance that is so completely stellar on all fronts - I mean what can a critic critique when a show is so hilariously good. The truth is, on that road - Bobby's got nuthin, but a word should be said about Miss R/Mr. King the singer. The hour and a half show, from which the Minnesota queen took really only 1 short break to play a funny video, left the audience breathless with laughter, and then, the moments where Miss R let the audience have it with her broad baritone voice left everyone breathless in another way... In short, this B!+%H can belt! No lipsynch queen is our Miss Richfield 1981, because she doesn't have to with her pipes. Near the end of her show, her comedy rendition of I'VE BEEN EVERYWHERE - graced with her own funny lyrics - made Bobby's little head spin with dizzying patter breaks that would have made Gilbert lose his Sullivan. Wrapping the show with Finnian's LOOK TO THE RAINBOW, singing so wonderfully AND THEN, using the chair on stage, at last, to sit down with her violin bow and saw (yes a SAW) to add a touch of musical surrealism to send us all home.

Finally, this drag creation would seem to be the performance mask worn by a consummate clown in order to open up a creative gate in his soul that lets forth the flow of unabashed gifts shared with audiences who can't help but love MISS RICHFIELD 1981: 40 YEARS ON THE THRONE, and for that Bobby must give her show our full...

5 Out Of 5 Rainbows

Keep Up With MISS RICHFIELD 1981 so you can catch her act wherever fine drag is sold...

Her Webbyiste is: HERE

Look Right Up Her YouTubes: HERE (See Her BINGO BONANZA Each Monday & Thursday)

Tweet Her Twitters: HERE

Stalk Her InstaPictograms: HERE

Ande Followe On Ye Olde FaceBooke: HERE

All Photos By Yours Truly, Bobby Patrick

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